Communication With God

While doing premarital counselling, I read a portion of a book that provides insight into our relationship with God.  One of the things we discussed is the different levels of communication, and five levels of communication are shared from John Powell's book, Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?  These levels provoked self-examination for me as I considered my personal communication style with God in prayer.  The excerpt from Before You Say "I Do" reads:

"Level Five:  Cliche Conversation.  This type of talk is very safe.  We use phrases such as "How are you?"  How's the dog?  "Where have you been?"  "I like your dress."  In this type of conversation there is not personal sharing.  Each person remains safely behind his defences.

Level Four:  Reporting the Facts About Others.  In this kind of conversation we are content to tell others what someone else has said, but we offer no personal information on these facts.  We report the facts like the six o'clock news.  We share gossip and little narrations, but we do not commit ourselves as to how we feel about them.

Level Three:  Ideas and Judgments.  Real communication begins to unfold here.  The person is willing to step out of his solitary confinement and risk telling some of his ideas and decisions.  He is still cautious.  If he senses that what he is saying is not being accepted, he will retreat.

Level Two:  Feelings or Emotions.  At this level the person shares how he feels about facts, ideas, and judgments.  His feelings underneath these areas are revealed.  For a person to really share himself with another individual he must move to the level of sharing his feelings.

Level One:  Complete Emotional and Personal Communication.  All deep relationships must be based on absolute openness and honesty.  This may be difficult to achieve because it involves risk--the risk of being rejected.  But it is vital if relationships are to grow.  There will be times when this type of communication is not as complete as it could be." (Roberts, Wes, and H. Norman Wright. Before You Say “I Do”®. Harvest House Publishers, 2019. Pages 62-63)

It is useful to consider the level of communication we typically use in our relationships with others, especially in preparation for a marriage relationship.  People who are outgoing and view themselves like an open book may realise how reserved they are in expressing their feelings or emotions.  If this is a useful consideration in our relationships with people, how vital it is for each of us to consider as we seek to cultivate a healthy relationship with God!  An honest assessment may prove that we actually spend most of our time in prayer on surface level reporting and never move into real communication.  Our prayers to God may be the equivalent of talking about news that concerns other people and the action we would like God to take--but never honestly share how we are feeling.

When Jesus came to earth, He revealed Himself as the promised Messiah through whom we can know God.  The tender and intimate relationship Jesus had with His heavenly Father is the relationship God desires to have with us by faith in Jesus where nothing is hidden and the desires of our hearts are freely expressed in the safety and security of His love, grace and mercy.  As we desire to grow in our relationship with God, may we be those who humble ourselves before God to share our thoughts and feelings in personal, prayerful communication, choosing to listen and respond to God's word with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The LORD already knows our thoughts and hearts, but He will not force His way into them and make us share ourselves with Him.  God's desire is for us by faith in Jesus to be enraptured in His love without fear of rejection or being ridiculed.

As we have this fellowship with God marked by open lines of personal communication, we will also benefit richly from fellowship with Christians.  Jesus shared His heart for us when He prayed for His disciples in John 17:20-23:  "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."  This is God's will for His people, that all Christ's disciples would be united by faith in God's love so His glory will shine bright in this world.  Since God has freely given Himself to us through Christ, let us give ourselves freely to Him and one another in fellowship.